Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.26.12
Ūti· What drives us to actLearning Must Lead Beyond Lust
“What is the use of a big education or the practice of austerities and renunciation, and what is the use of studying religious scriptures, of living in solitude and silence, if, after all that, one’s mind is stolen by a woman?”
What the purport teaches
- Education, austerities, renunciation and scriptural study are useless if one's heart and mind remain stolen by lust. Solitude and silence alone do not solve this problem.
- Hankering after a woman's association spoils one's spiritual progress. The teaching asks us to examine the desires beneath our outward practices.
- Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura recommends worshiping the example of the liberated gopīs of Vṛndāvana, who accepted Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their paramour. This can free one's mental activities from the contamination of lust.
Try this today
Spend a quiet minute honoring the liberated gopīs' devotion to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, rather than dwelling on personal enjoyment.
Ask yourself
Are my spiritual practices changing what my heart seeks?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.